Chapter IV. A the use of force introduction

395
^ Human Rights Watch. Ecuador: Crackdown on Protesters Excessive Use of Force, Arbitrary Detentions, Illegal Home Searches. November 10, 2015. See also: Radio Huancavilca. La ONU se mostró preocupada por la violencia ejercida contra los indígenas en Ecuador. August 25, 2015.

396
^ United Nations, Human Rights Council, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, James Anaya. Extractive industries and indigenous peoples, A/HRC/24/41, 1 July 2013, para. 21.

397
^ IACHR. Hearing on Corporations, Human Rights, and Prior Consultation in the Americas. 154th regular period of sessions. March 17, 2015.

398
^ Centro de Derechos Humanos Zeferino Ladrillero. Salvaje represión a indígenas en el Estado de México. March 8, 2015. See also SDP Noticias. Funcionarios de Nicolás Romero atacan y golpean a defensores otomíes. March 10, 2015.

399
^IACHR, Precautionary Measure 321-12, Resolution 16/15 – Teribe and Bribri Indigenous People regarding Costa Rica, April 30, 2015.

400
^ IACHR. hearing on The Right to Property and the Right to a Healthy Environment of Indigenous Peoples in Bocas del Toro, Panama. 154th regular session. March 20, 2015.

401
^During the period covered by this report, the IACHR did not receive any information about excessive use of force by state agents against intersex persons. Accordingly, this chapter will refer to LGBT persons.

402
^ Response to the IACHR questionnaire on violence against LGBTI persons in the Americas presented by Argentina, Note 96357/2013 of November 29, 2013, and received by the Executive Secretariat of the IACHR on December 13, 2013, p. 20. See also CEJIL, Estudio sobre los Crímenes de Odio Motivados en la Orientación Sexual e Identidad de Género en Costa Rica, Honduras y Nicaragua, 2010.

403
^ [Argentina], Response to the IACHR questionnaire on violence against LGBTI persons in the Americas presented by Argentina, Note 96357/2013 of November 29, 2013, and received by the Executive Secretariat of the IACHR on December 13, 2013, p. 11. [Mexico] Response to the IACHR questionnaire on violence against LGBTI persons in the Americas, Centro de Apoyo a las Identidades Trans (Mexico), received by the Executive Secretariat on December 20, 2013, p. 8.

404
^ See, for example, [Chile], Response to the IACHR questionnaire on violence against LGBTI persons in the Americas presented by Organización de Transexuales por la Dignidad de la Diversidad, p. 3. December 2013.

405
^ Chile. Criminal Code, Article 373. Response to the IACHR questionnaire on violence against LGBTI persons in the Americas presented by MOVILH. Chile, pp. 9-10. December 2013.

406
^ In Colombia, a police manual on nonlethal weapons justifies police prejudice against certain marginalized social groups, such as LGBT persons. The manual on “Parameters for the Use of Nonlethal Weapons” of the National Police of Colombia, which includes the “normal mindset [of the police] toward typical interlocutors, such as diehard soccer fans, groups of youth under the influence of psychoactive drugs, homosexuals and transvestites, vagrants, intolerant racists and xenophobes.” Response of Colombia Diversa to the questionnaire on the use of force in the Americas circulated by the IACHR, p. 3.

407
^ For example, the IACHR received information about the creation by the Provincial Municipality of Piura of an “anti-transvestites” group in coordination with the police in August 2015. Sin Etiquetas, “Perú: Municipio crea grupo “antitravestis” de la mano con la policía,” August 18, 2015. The IACHR has been informed about initiatives of this nature in several Peruvian municipalities in previous years. Centro de Promoción y Defensa de los Derechos Sexuales y Reproductivos - PROMSEX and Red Peruana TLGB: INFORME ANUAL sobre derechos humanos de personas Trans, Lesbianas, gays y bisexuales en el Perú 2012, Sin Igualdad no hay Justicia, 2012, Peru, p. 57.

408
^ Christopher Carrico, Collateral Damage: The Social Impact of Laws Affecting LGBT Persons in Guyana, Human Rights Advocacy Project, Faculty of Law, University of the West Indies, March 2012, p. 4.

409
^ [Chile] Response to the IACHR questionnaire on violence against LGBTI persons in the Americas presented by Organización de Transexuales por la Dignidad de la Diversidad, p. 3.

410
^ Incidents documented by the civil society organization Colombia Diversa in 2013 and 2014.

411
^ Response of Colombia Diversa to the questionnaire on the use of force in the Americas circulated by the IACHR, p. 4.

412
^ Response of Colombia Diversa to the questionnaire on the use of force in the Americas circulated by the IACHR, p. 3.

413
^ Redlactrans and APPT, Informe sobre situación de derechos humanos de las personas trans (travestis, transexuales y transgéneros) en Panamá. Versión Preliminar v.1.0. October 2015.

414
^ During the hearing, copies were displayed of fines which specified that the reason was “clandestine prostitution” and that the penalty was 100 dollars; while another fine was for “being a transvestite,” for which the penalty was 60 dollars. The fines were reputedly levied by the nocturnal courts of the Ministry of the Interior and Justice of the Republic of Panama.

415
^ Law on the Organization, Functions, Career Path, and Special Social Security Regime of the National Police. Response of Nicaragua to the questionnaire on the use of force in the Americas circulated by the IACHR, p. 32.

416
^ In addition, three police personnel awareness-raising tools were designed as part of the same project. Response of the Republic of El Salvador to the questionnaire on the use of force in the Americas circulated by the IACHR, p. 13.

417
^ Response of Mexico to the consultation questionnaire on the use of force circulated by the IACHR, p. 24.

418
^ IACHR, Report on Violence against Lesbian, Gays, Bisexuals, Trans e Intersexs Persons in the Americas, OAS/Ser.L/V/II.rev.1 Doc. 36, November 12, 2015, Chapter 4.

419
^ The IACHR learned of a repressive attack on Diana Sacayán, a a trans persons’ rights defender, who, together with other defenders was on her way to the city of La Plata for a discussion on the trans employment quota law in August 2015. Autodeterminación y Libertad, “Repudiamos la Represión a Diana Sacayán“, August 29, 2015.

420
^ According to reports, the trans woman was a human rights defender and the policewoman who assaulted her physically also filmed her family without a court order. Santamaría Fundación. Press release provided to the team that supports the Office of the Rapporteur on the Rights of LGBTI Persons. September 2015.

421
^ The IACHR was informed that on August 20, 2015, Marco Aurelio López, a human rights defender and director of the organization Asociación Manos Amigas – LGBT AMAS, was intercepted and made to board a military vehicle. He was then taken to the northeast of the city where he was allegedly physically and sexually assaulted by agents of the military police. In addition, the human rights defenders Wilmer Rodas and Donny Reyes were intercepted in a taxi by the police and subjected to intimidating questioning in Tegucigalpa after attending the celebration of the anniversary of the organization Asociación Arcoiris. Frontline Defenders. Honduras – Extreme violence, including killings, against LGBTI rights defenders, September 2, 2015.

422
^ The IACHR was informed about a brutal beating given to Alex Peña, a trans man, human rights defender, and leader of Asociación de Hombres Transexuales. On June 27 he had reportedly taken part in the gay pride parade. While he was on his way home he reportedly got into an argument with a bus driver, in which a group of National Civil Police agents intervened. He was allegedly assaulted by four policemen, who left him with a fractured orbit and other internal injuries. While the policeman were hitting him, they shouted, “We’re are going to beat you like a man.” The mayor of San Salvador and an assistant government attorney said that it was a case of violence based on prejudice against gender identity and expression. El Faro. Organizaciones LGBTI denuncian golpiza de Policía a activista transexual, June 29, 2015.

423
^ According to the organization, the combination of both activities puts trans human rights defenders in a more vulnerable position. REDLACTRANS and others, La noche es otro país. Impunidad y violencia contra mujeres transgénero defensoras de derechos humanos en América Latina, 2012, p. 28.

424
^ IACHR, Second Report on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders in the Americas, OEA/Ser.L/V/II. doc.66, December 31, 2011, par. 297; IACHR, Press Release No. 23/14, IACHR Expresses Concern about Attacks against LGBTI Persons and other Forms of Violence and Restrictions against LGBTI Organizations in the Americas, February 27, 2014.

425
^ UNPACU, Listado de más de 300 activistas de Derechos Humanos detenidos en Cuba ayer domingo, 12 de octubre de 2015; Cubanet, Domingo de represión: decenas de manifestantes pacíficos detenidos y golpeados, 11 de octubre de 2015. Posteriormente a estos hechos, la CIDH ha seguido recibiendo información sobre otras manifestaciones pacíficas en donde personas defensoras de derechos humanos estarían siendo maltratados y detenidos por agentes del Departamento de Seguridad del Estado en conjunto con la Policía Nacional Revolucionaria.

426
^ CIDH, Audiencia sobre Situación de las y los defensores de derechos humanos de pueblos indígenas y del ambiente en Ecuador. 156 período ordinario de sesiones. 19 de octubre de 2015.

427
^ Front Line Defenders, Brasil: asesinato de Semião Fernandes Vilhalva, defensor de derechos humanos y líder indígena guaraní-kaiowá, 7 de septiembre de 2015; ver también, OMCT, Brazil: Killing of Mr. Semião Fernandes Vilhalva, one of the leaders of the Guarani-Kaiowá indigneous people in Brazil (inglés), 10 de septiembre de 2015; Gabriela Pavão, Direitos humanos da ONU ‘condenam’ norte de índio em conflito em MS, Globo (portugués), 4 de septiembre de 2015.

428
^ Centro Prodh, Informe sobre patrones de violaciones a derechos humanos en el marco de las políticas de seguridad pública y del Sistema de Justicia Penal en México, junio de 2015, pág. 32.

429
^ Centro Prodh, Informe sobre patrones de violaciones a derechos humanos en el marco de las políticas de seguridad pública y del Sistema de Justicia Penal en México, junio de 2015, pág. 22, 44-46.

430
^ IACHR. Press Release 112A: Preliminary Observations on the IACHR Visit to Mexico, Annex to the press release. October 2, 2015.

431
^ CIDH, Criminalization of the work of human right defenders, 29 de diciembre de 2015 .

432
^ CIDH, Criminalization of the work of human right defenders, 29 de diciembre de 2015, párr. 12, 85. The IACHR understands that “[t]he criminalization of human rights defenders through the misuse of criminal law involves the manipulation of the punitive power of the State by State and non-state actors in order to control, punish, or prevent the exercise of the right to defend human rights.” Moreover, the Commission has indicated that the repetition of stigmatizing statements may contribute to exacerbate the climate of hostility, intolerance and rejection from different sectors of the population which could lead to an impairment to life and physical integrity of the human rights defender, increasing his or her vulnerability as public officials or sectors of the society could interpret them as instructions, instigations, or any form of authorization or support for the commission of acts that may put at risk or violate his or her right to life, personal safety, or other rights.”

433
^ CIDH, Criminalization of the work of human right defenders, 29 de diciembre de 2015, párrs. 124-127.

434
^ Front Line Defenders, Guatemala: Asesinato de Rigoberta Lima Choc y secuestro y amenazas de muerte contra otros tres defensores de derechos humanos en el contexto de graves protestas, 25 de septiembre de 2015; Prensa Comunitaria Km. 169, Comunicado de la Radio Snuq’ Jolom Konob’ por la tragedia ocurrida en Sayaxché Petén, 20 de septiembre de 2015.

435
^ IACHR. Press Release 37A/15 Report on the 154th Session of the IACHR, June 19, 2015. This situation was also noticed by the IACHR on its report on Violence, Children and Organized Crime. OAS/ Ser.L/V/II.Doc.40/15 November 2, 2015, para. 188. Within the system of individual petitions and cases of the IACHR, on May 19, 2015, the commission filed an application with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Case 11.566, Cosme Rosa Genoveva, Evandro de Oliveira et al. (Favela Nova Brasília), in which it claimed that the State of Brazil was responsible for the extrajudicial execution of 26 individuals, including six children, during an operation carried out by the Civilian Police of Rio de Janeiro in the favela Nova Brasilia. In its report on merits, the IACHR took as established the existence of a pattern of excessive use of lethal force by the police, together with acts and omissions designed to help ensure impunity for the culprits. See IACHR. Press Release 069/15, IACHR Takes Case involving Brazil to the Inter-American Court. June 12, 2015. See also IACHR, Report No. 141/11, cases 11.566 and 11.694, Merits, Cosme Rosa Genoveva, Evandro De Oliveira et al. (Favela Nova Brasilia), Brazil, October 31, 2011.

436
^ IACHR. Press Release 37A/15 Report on the 154th Session of the IACHR, June 19, 2015. Consistently, other civil society organizations reported that extrajudicial executions in Military Police operations are common in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and that of the 1,275 killings by on-duty police between 2010 and 2013, 99.5% of the victims were male, 79% were Afro-descendants, and 75% were 15 to 29 years old. (AI: Brasil: ¡No más ejecuciones de jóvenes negros por parte de la policía!, August 14, 2015; and You Killed My Son. Homicides by Military Police in the City of Rio de Janeiro, August 3, 2015, p. 7.) There is also evidence that those worst affected are Afro-descendent youth living in favelas (slums) and other deprived areas and You Killed My Son. Homicides by Military Police in the City of Rio de Janeiro, August 3, 2015, p. 37.) It is warned that the number of extrajudicial executions, encouraged by a gatilho fácil (trigger happy) approach, seems to be on the rise as the inauguration of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio gets closer =AI, Brazil: ‘Trigger happy’ military police kill hundreds as Rio prepares for Olympic countdown. August 3, 2015)

437
^ IACHR, Report on Violence, Children and Organized Crime. OAS/ Ser.L/V/II.Doc.40/15 November 2, 2015, para. 188.

438
^ IACHR. Hearing on Reports of Discrimination against People of African Descent in Colombia. 156th regular session. October 22, 2015.

439
^ El Tiempo. Denuncian presunta discriminación racial por parte de policías. September 30, 2015.

440
^ IACHR. Press Release No. 040/15,IACHR Condemns the Killing of an African-American Man in the United States. April 17, 2015 See also IACHR. Hearing on Reports of Excessive Use of Force by the Police against People of African Descent in the United States. 156th regular session, October 23, 2015.

441
^IACHR, Press Release No. 118/15, IACHR Concludes Visit to Florida, Louisiana and Missouri, United States, October 16, 2015.

442
^IACHR, Press Release No. 118/15, IACHR Concludes Visit to Florida, Louisiana and Missouri, United States, October 16, 2015.

443
^IACHR, Press Release No. 118/15, IACHR Concludes Visit to Florida, Louisiana and Missouri, United States, October 16, 2015. The Commission also learned from publicly available information of other violent incidents committed against Afro-American children and adolescents in other federal entities of the United States, as the one that took place in McKinney, Texas, in June 9, 2015 (Vox. Police officer who slammed black girl to the ground at McKinney, Texas, pool party resigns. June 9, 2015; NPR. McKinney Police Officer Seen Pinning Black Girl To The Ground Resigns. June 9, 2015; CNN. Texas pool party chaos: 'Out of control' police officer resigns. Junio 9, 2015) or the one occurred in the Spring Valley High School, South Carolina, in October 26, 2015 (CNN. Spring Valley High School officer suspended after violent classroom arrest. October 27, 2015; Washington Post. FBI, Justice Department investigating S.C. police officer who threw student across classroom. October 27, 2015; BBC. US police officer fired for student assault in South Carolina. October 28, 2015).

444
^IACHR, Press Release No. 118/15, IACHR Concludes Visit to Florida, Louisiana and Missouri, United States, October 16, 2015.

445
^ IACHR. Hearing on Reports of Excessive Use of Force by the Police against People of African Descent in the United States. 156th regular session, October 23, 2015.

446
^ IACHR. Hearing on Reports of Excessive Use of Force by the Police against People of African Descent in the United States. 156th regular session, October 23, 2015.

447
^Response of Latino Justice PRLDEF to the questionnaire on the use of force circulated by the IACHR, p. 2.

448
^Response of Latino Justice PRLDEF to the questionnaire on the use of force circulated by the IACHR, p. 2.

449
^ El País. Peña Nieto condena la muerte de un mexicano por la policía de Washington. February 14, 2015. See also El Financiero. Tercer mexicano muerto por policía en EU. March 2, 2015.

450
^ United Nations, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns, Use of information and communications technologies to secure the right to life. April 24, 2015.

451
^ I/A Court H.R. Case of Montero Aranguren et al. (Detention Center of Catia) v. Venezuela. Preliminary Objection, Merits, Reparations, and Costs. Judgment of July 5, 2006. Series C No. 150, par. 66.

452
^ I/A Court H.R. Case of Cruz Sánchez et al. v. Peru. Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of April 17, 2015. Serie C No. 292, párr. 348, and Case of Nadege Dorzema et al. v. Dominican Republic. Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of October 24, 2012, Series C No. 251, par. 102.

453
^ Response of Bolivia to the questionnaire on the use of force circulated by the IACHR, pp. 22.

454
^ Response of Chile to the questionnaire on the use of force circulated by the IACHR, pp. 24-25.

455
^ Response of Colombia to the questionnaire on the use of force circulated by the IACHR, pp. 25.

456
^ Response of Guyana to the questionnaire on the use of force circulated by the IACHR, pp. 11.

457
^ Response of El Salvador to the questionnaire on the use of force circulated by the IACHR, pp. 10-11. See also La Página. Tres heridos en disturbios provocados por aficionados de Alianza tras partido frente a la UES. August 5, 2015.

458
^ Response of Mexico to the questionnaire on the use of force circulated by the IACHR, p. 16.

459
^ Response of Nicaragua to the questionnaire on the use of force circulated by the IACHR, pp. 24-28.

460
^ Response of Nicaragua to the questionnaire on the use of force circulated by the IACHR, pp. 26 and 28.

461
^ Response of Trinidad and Tobago to the questionnaire on the use of force circulated by the IACHR, pp. 3-4.

462
^ Response of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago to the questionnaire circulated by the IACHR to the states and civil society for developing the annual overview of the human rights situation in the Hemisphere, Chapter IV.A of the 2015 Annual Report. pp. 7-8.

463
^ The response submitted by the State did not offer any information in that regard. CELS said that no record was kept of information on the use of force by law enforcement personnel in Argentina. It referred to the partial collection of data by some agencies that could illustrate the phenomenon of state violence, as in the case of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation that reportedly annually reviews lawsuits brought against state agents for intentional homicide committed in the exercise of their official functions and a similar initiative by the Office of the Prosecutor General (Procuración General) of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Province of Buenos Aires. The Database on Cases of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Treatment or Punishment (BDPBA) could offer a broad overview of institutional violence.

464
^ The response submitted by the State did not offer any information in that regard. However, in their response to the questionnaire, lawyers allied to Fundación Pro Bono Venezuela made references to statistics offered by the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Republic on protests that had occurred in the country since February 2014, as well as alleged cases of torture documented by Foro Penal Venezolano. At a hearing on the “General Human Rights Situation in Venezuela“ during its 156th regular session, the Commission was alerted about a 28% increase in the number of alleged extrajudicial executions and cases of torture in the first half of 2015, compared with the same period in 2014, 60 percent of which were said to have occurred in the context of operations. The foregoing was illustrated with official data on the results of the OLP after its first three months of implementation, with 160 deaths reported in 90 operations nationwide. It was reported that there was no information about the opening of the relevant inquiries.

In the course of the same session, the Commission received the Venezuelan Prisons Observatory (OVP) General Report on the Prisons Situation in Venezuela (Informe General sobre la Situación Carcelaria en Venezuela), October 16, 2015, which suggests that the increase in prison violence in Venezuela is related to excessive use of force and other circumstances, such as overcrowding, squalor, inadequate food, and corruption, among other irregularities. According to the statistics provided by the OVP in that report, in 2014, 179 people died and 309 were injured in prison violence; that compares with the figures reported for the first half of 2015, according to which 109 died and 30 were injured, which represents an alarming 22.47 increase percent in incidents resulting in fatalities. The Commission does not know which of those incidents had to do with use of force by law enforcement agents.

465
^ See the State’s response to the questionnaire. Amnesty International, for its part, warns in its report Deadly Force: Police Use of Lethal Force In The United States of a failure to collect accurate, national data on police use of force, including
the number of people killed by police. However, it says that estimates range from 458 to over a thousand individuals killed each year.

466

^ Response of CELS to the questionnaire on the use of force circulated by the IACHR. pp. 9-10.

467

^ Response of CPM to the questionnaire on the use of force circulated by the IACHR.

468

^ Response of Colombia Diversa to the questionnaire on the use of force circulated by the IACHR, pp. 3-4.

469

^ Response of CNDDHH to the questionnaire on the use of force circulated by the IACHR. p. 3.

470

^ United Nations, Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns, A/HRC/26/36, April 1, 2014, para. 23.

471

^ Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, Principle No. 11(f).

472

^ Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, Principle No. 6.

473

^ I/A Court H.R. Case of The Barrios Family v. Venezuela. Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of November 24, 2011. Series C No. 237, par. 234.

474

^ Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, Principle No. 22.

475

^ United Nations, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns, Use of information and communications technologies to secure the right to life. 24 April 2015, para. 57,

476

^ United Nations, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns, Use of information and communications technologies to secure the right to life. 24 April 2015, para. 57,

477

^ United Nations, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns, Use of information and communications technologies
to secure the right to life. 24 April 2015, para. 59.

478


^ IACHR Hearing on Reports of Excessive Use of Force by the Police against People of African Descent in the United States. 156th regular session, October 23, 2015.

479


^ I/A Court H.R. Case of Landaeta Mejías Brothers et al v. Venezuela. Judgment of August 27, 2014. Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations and Costs. Series C No. 281, par. 135.

480


^ AI. Use of force: Guidelines for implementation of the UN Basic Principles on the use of forcé and firearms by law enforcement officials , August 2015.

481


^ Report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, MainaKiai, on his mission to the United Kingdom (14-23 January 2013) A/HRC/23/39/Add.1, para. 24 .

482


^ IACHR, Report on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders in the Americas, 2006, par. 68.

483


^ IACHR Report No. 151/11 (Petition 1077-06), Admissibility. Luis Giován Laverde Moreno et al. Colombia

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